350,000 Volkswagen and Audi vehicles are stored in the Mojave Desert in the wake of Dieselgate
For nearly a decade, approximately 350,000 Volkswagen and Audi vehicles—repurchased from owners following the “Dieselgate” scandal—have been stored in the Mojave Desert in the United States.
In 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that certain Volkswagen and Audi diesel models emitted up to 40 times more nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere than permitted by regulations.
Following this, the Volkswagen Group launched a large-scale vehicle buyback program in the U.S., spending about $7.4 billion on it.
To store the repurchased vehicles, the company leased about 37 sites across the country. One of the largest became the Mojave Desert.
Despite the common belief that cars “rot” there, the desert’s dry climate virtually eliminates corrosion and rust. The company also regularly performs maintenance on the vehicles.
After receiving permits from regulators, some of the cars were repaired, had their software updated, and were returned to the market. Thousands of other vehicles were dismantled for parts or sent for recycling because repairing them was not economically viable.
Source: Supercarblondie.
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